He shifted his stance, keeping his hands near her face. “She is indeed lovely.”
“Doesn’t mean I can marry her!” Prinny cried, appropriately so.
Which meant it was time for him to act.
Chapter Two
Yihui expected todie today. Or perhaps she hoped for such an end because concubine to a white king was not the life she wanted.
After her failed escape yesterday, she knew Lao Gu would find a way to punish her. She knew, even if they did not, that the English were not as stupid as the Chinese generally believed. Even the English captain had doubts that this scheme would succeed, but Lao Gu was determined to use her to flatter the king. Then he expected to embed himself in the English court as the concubine’s master.
She thought it ridiculous, but what did she know of the plans of men? Nothing. And so she had tried to escape last night and failed. Then they had broken her feet, fed her opium for the pain, and she had willingly embraced it.
When a woman had no future, she would take whatever escape she could.
Then an Englishman dared break her from her daze.
His voice caught her first. There was a richness to how he spoke, low and yet still compelling. Like a drumbeat calling her forth. She couldn’t understand why she responded. Yet come forth she did, her gaze focusing on his blue eyes.
“Stay still,” he said. She understood him perfectly but was not predisposed to any man commanding such a thing. Nevertheless, she obeyed merely to gain time. She had to know what was happening around her.
She replayed in her thoughts what had been no more than a slipping of time in a wash of pain. But now she knew, she felt, and she accepted her coming death. Hadn’t that been her preference? And yet the feel of the sword at her throat made the reality of it all too much.
She began to panic.
“Don’t move. I’ll get you free.”
Free? He would free her? No man promised such a thing, but what else could she do? Her captors would not help her. This man with blue eyes spoke with a voice that called her to awareness. What choice did she have but to hope?
But the blade was there pressed against her throat. She dared not breathe, not swallow, not totter on her throbbing feet.
The Englishman turned his face from her, robbing her of the steadiness of his gaze. She wanted to reach for him, but her body was heavy and slow.
“She is indeed lovely,” he said.
“Doesn’t mean I can marry her!” the English king retorted.
“As to that…” he began, then he shoved her.
His push landed hard, right in the center of her chest. While she flew backwards, he chopped down on the wrist holding the sword. It was hard to see with the beads clattering in front of her eyes, but as soon as she could focus, she saw him standing with the sword against…too many others.
He had gotten her a reprieve, but it was short-lived. The others were coming for him with swords drawn. He adjusted. Indeed, he’d leaped to a position in front of her, half standing over her legs. At his back was the palanquin, so at least there was defense on one side, but it would not last.
Meanwhile, the fat king was clapping his hands as if this were a performance.
“Good show, Max! Good show!”
“I’m afraid I can’t maintain it, Your Royal Highness. Not three against one. You’ll need to find another solution. Quickly, if possible.”
Yihui looked around, trying to find a way to escape. The blue-eyed man had provided the distraction. All she needed to do was crawl away. But she was surrounded on all sides as the ship captain started pleading with the king.
“If you would just accept the present, then that will be all that is required. Bring her into your household for a time. You don’t have to marry her. The Wongs have to go back to China eventually.”
There was panic in the man’s voice and a desperation that Yihui would find satisfying if she had enough attention to spare. As it was, she could only cower behind the blue-eyed man and hope he found an answer.
Meanwhile the English leader grunted in obvious disgust. “As if I didn’t already think of that. I can’t be seen to take a Chinese woman as my wife by anyone. Even in pretense. It makes me a liar, and I won’t have it.”
“But Your Royal Highness—”
